Wyrzysk flag

Wyrzysk - urban-rural commune, Piła County, Wielkopolskie Voivodship -
German name: Wirsitz.
Gmina Wyrzysk is an urban-rural gmina () in Piła County, Greater Poland
Voivodship, in west-central Poland. Its seat is the town of Wyrzysk, which
lies approximately 36 kilometres (22 mi) east of Piła and 87 km (54 mi)
north of the regional capital Poznań..
Area: 160.75 sq.km (62.1 sq.mi); Population: 14,132 (2006).

In the Middle Ages the Noteć became a natural border between the regions
of Greater Poland and Pomerania, which long resisted the expansion of the
Polish Piast dynasty, German margraves, and since the 13th century also
the Teutonic Knights. With time, people adopted the name Krajna for the
area to the north of the Noteć. The Polish prince Bolesław the Wrymouth
(1106-1138) conquered the castles on the Noteć and incorporated Krajna
into his state. Over the following centuries, Krajna was connected with
Greater Poland.

The first preserved mention of Wyrzysk dates back to 1326; the name
of the place was then recorded in the so-called Greater Poland Codex. Wyrzysk
was probably granted the royal charter before 1450; in 1565 it became a
town under the so-called Magdeburg law. As a result of series of wars in
the second half of 17th century and beginning of 18th Wyrzysk became in
fact a village. Wyrzysk was annexed by Prussia in 1772 following the first
Partition of Poland. The city rights were renewed in 1773 by the Prussian
King Frederick the Great who made the town a centre administering the construction
of the Bydgoszcz Canal and the regulation of the Noteć. From 1807 to 1815
the town was a part of Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw and subsequently it was
given back to Prussia as a result of Congress of Vienna. It remained Prussian
until the end of First World War.

In 1772, after the first partition of Poland, Krajna was incorporated
into the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian ruler and his successors aimed
at fast Germanisation of the captured land. The methods which served this
purpose included the introduction of Prussian administration and education,
encouraging and supporting Prussian settlement and purchase of estates
from the Polish gentry. Thus Wyrzysk was sold by Karol Rydzyński to King
Frederick II himself as early as 1773.
In 1807-1815 the Wyrzysk area belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw and in
1815 it was recaptured by the Prussians.
In 1818 Wyrzysk became the seat of a county in the Grand Duchy of Poznań.

The period of Prussian rule accelerated the economic development and
progress, especially in agriculture, in which the Prussians abolished the
law of corvée at the beginning of the 19th century. The conflict arose
especially during the Kulturkampf period. However, the pressure of Germanisation
encountered the growing resistance of the Polish population of Krajna,
which stuck doggedly to its native language and the Roman Catholic religion.
This found expression in establishing Polish associations, choirs, sports
clubs, banks and self-help organizations.

Wyrzysk was given to newly re-born Poland by Treaty of Versailles, although
53 percent of its population were Germans at that time. Most of them preferred
to move to Germany as so called optants. From 1939 to 1945 the city was
occupied by Germany and was put into the new created province of Danzig-West
Prussia.
Wyrzysk has been recovered by Poland in 1945. (wiki)

Wyrzysk (Virsitz) was the birthplace of Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr
von Braun (1912-1977) an American (earlier German) rocket engineer (V-2,
ICBMs, Saturn V, for the Nazis and the USA).

Arms and flag adopted on February 8, 2001 (resolution # XXIV/2/01)
"Arms: on the white shield red deer running to the left with the golden
cross on its head and on the green grass. Behind the deer a solitary green
tree.
Arms are based on the image from the documents of 1730.

Flag: rectangular piece of cloth in the ratio 5:8 composed of three
horizontal color bands: blue-white-green..
Bands blue and green are qual and are 1/2 of the width of the white
band. On the white band the Arms of the commune (without the shield) are
placed."

It bothered me a lot, the vagueness of the "Statut", lack of illustrations,
so I went into mighty trouble and sifted through thousands of documents
and got at least partial answer.
Obtained the proof sheets for the Arms and the flag, but only in black
and white, so am still unsure what is the proper color of the upper stripe
(don't understand any of the color codes or palettes - CMYK ?

Jens sent me a Wyrzysk flag some years ago with the upper stripe red,
but both wiki and Lajsikonik have it blue, making it not so tautological
with the Arms. (there is no description given in the law).
Arms: concept by Alfred Znamierowski: graphics by Piotr Dąbrowski
Flag: concept and graphics by Alfred Znamierowski.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 21 Nov 2008